We had the good fortune of connecting with Patreece Dade-Ohakam and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Patreece, what do you want people to remember about you?
I want my legacy to be about resiliency and faith. I sincerely believe that the recipe for enduring life’s trying times is about having the courage and made up mind to get back up and keep going even when life circumstances come to knock you on your behind. I have told my son that I want him to be able to share with people my sincere love of the Lord, my faith in him and my relianc upon.. I am not ashamed of that. I believe that my own personal grit and my hope in my God has gave the stamina to keep going, creating and loving others even in the midst of setbacks and pains. I also want him to to be able to tell others how much I valued the various gifts that God blessed me with, and how I found joy in sharing them with others to inspire and encourage them.
Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am a creative at heart. Although I have been in the field of education for years, since my childhood, I have always loved using the gifts of singing, writing, performance and speaking to express myself. I have even used thems in the classroom not just in faith based settings, but also to teach and bring an engaging experience to my students as a teacher of literature and foreign language. I think what sets me apart from other independent gospel artists is that I bring my knowledge and experience for stage presence, my sociable personality, my genuine concern for people, and my versatility. I don’t want to just sing to an audience, I want to make a connection with the people and provoke a feeling whether through song, spoken word, encouragement or my writing. As a singer/songwriter I take inspiration from various genres of music but the fundamental message stage rooted in inspiration and the Christian faith.
I am extremely excited about my upcoming first book of poetry to be published entitled, “My Words Have Power: Poems, Spoke Words, and Truths Told My Way.” This will be my first book ever! It is my life experiences, testimony and thoughts without censorship. I am very proud to have writing on the verge of being shared with the world. I am in awe that God saw fit to bless me with the gifts and talent to convey messages in different ways, I juggle two career paths one as a creative/independent artist and the other as a artist educator. I feel in recent I have become more comfortable in embracing my creativitiy and who God has designed me to be. I don’t that I have to explain or apologize any longer for being the singing teacher or the animated educator! I am a creative with a big personality, and a unique indivdual who has her own style and way of looking at life. Preserverance and faith in God has brought me this far and empowered to have small and large victories in my life while still contending with the challenges. I have learned that life is not easy nor perfect. It is about have the strenght to endure and finding the postiives and being able to say thank you! I believe things really do work out for me as a believer in Jesus Christ. Romans 8:28. tells me this in the word of God, and I have experienced it first hand. This helps me to have the mindset of an overcomer.
As a believer in Jesus Christ, although not perfect in any way, I deeply value my faith. I am also a newly wed wife (3 years on July 31st) and now a mom of a teenage boy. When we first spoke in 2019 I was single just having experienced my mom’s sudden passing. My son was a tween and in elementary. He is now an entering sophomore. Times flies right and brings about a change! I am most proud of having my husband and son in my life. I married in the summer of 2021 and also traveled overseas for the first time to sing and wed. My family is ethnically, culturally and lingustically diverse, and that has created some lessons and experiences that are not always easy. My husband is Nigerian and my son is Afro-latino from a previous relationship. For me as a black American woman, I have learned some invaluable lessons about life, people, perceptions, and the necessity of culture sensitivity and understanding. I have traveled back and forth to West Africa to visit my husband while we go through the challenging immigration process. I have learned that being married is not for the faint of heart! Morever, being married to someone of a different cutlure who lives abroad and has a different way of communicating (lol) has been one of the most challenging things I have done besides having been a single mother for years, working on graduate degeree while parenintg and teaching, and having had to deal with my mom’s death. Whew! Baby! None of those experiences have been easy, but I know that my faith in the Lord his word and my prayer life have honestly sustained me and kept me holding on. Also, the encouragement and at times help from my small circle of people has been a great blessing. Furthermore, knowing that my son is watching me and others are inspired by me has me resiliently moving forward.
As for things that I am excited about, I am looking forward to the release of a film that I was blessed receive a supporting role in “Do It For the Gram,” directed by Dallias based director Vernon “Snoop” Robinson. It feels so so good to have been selected through the audition process and it has heightened my confidence in my ability as an actress/performer. I had been desiring to work with him for some years, but had to build up courage and confidence to audtion for one of his projects. Additionally, I am preparing to also portray gospel legend and Godmother of Rock ‘N’ Roll Sister Rosetta Tharpe in the upcoming musical Tutti Frutti: The Life and Music of Little Richard, this December in Dallas. For me, as an indie black femalegospel artist, this will be a full circle moment to be able to express her musicality and personality onstage. She is a trailblazer and relevant figure in gospel and American music! I am very proud to have been selected to be a part of this upcoming project written and produced by Emmy Award winning actor Dedrick Weathersby and directed also by Snoop Robinson.
Also, I have new music projects that I am collaborating with producers in the US, as well as, international indie artists, both gospel and secular. I am grateful for these open doors.
As far as what I desire for the world to know about my story? It is just a testament to the grace of God and resiliency of a determined woman! I would like folks to know that they can overcome challenges of life and keeping shining through sharing their talents and gifts with others. You can be uniquely you and you can achieve things later in life and in an unorthodox way. My story is about pushing through the pain of life and finding purpose out of the adversities and finding joy in knowing who you are, and inspiring others to do the same. I believe folks need to tap into their gifts and use them to bless others, whatever that gift may be. This is how we live purpose filled and driven lives!
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Two of my favorities eateries os Sprout’s Spring Roll & Pho and Prince Lebanese Grill! I love trying different foods so I am a foodie in my head and my waist!! I also love Chef Temi’s fand T’s Buka for some great Nigerian food. I eat there when I crave the tastes of my husband’s home country. They are small restuarants with big flavor!
May be I sound boring but I would take my friend to the Modern Museum in Ft. Worth or the African American, Sweet Tooth or the Black Girl Magic Musuems in Dallas. I love art! We would probably go visit all of them. She’s here for a week right! We would also catch a performance of any production at Jubilee Theatre. I enoy the performing arts, and it would be a must do.
I would also love to take them to Klyde Warren Park to people watch and hit up some food trucks. I would also want to show them the Fabrication Yard in Dallas so we can do a photoshoot. and get some great pics.
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to dedicate my shoutout to the consistent, unvwavering, love, support, and efforts of my 15 year old son Xander Jamil Dade. He has experienced the challenges, wins, losses and victories with me from the adversities of single parenting to the demands of working full-time as an educator to my completion of my Master’s to the passing of my mother to the adjust me getting married to his stepdad to me traveling overseas to the grind of cultivating and promoting my ministry, artistr,y and music. He is always the first one to hear my ideas on my songs, poetry, or my performances, etc. Xander has seen me win and fail at things, but most of all he has seen me bounce back and not give up! One of the things I love the most is being to chop up the word of God with him and teach his to find inpsiration in the stories and teachings of the bible. This kid has had my back and I am grateful for this mother son bond.
He has been my photographer, assistant, critic, my rehearsal partner for auditions, and back up dancer for my videos! He is an amazing person I am very blessed and proud to call him son!
Website: https://www.patreecedademusic.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iampatreeced/
Twitter: https://x.com/PatreeceQ
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/patreece.dade
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@theartistpatreecedade
Other: https://www.facebook.com/patreecedademusicfrommyheart
Image Credits
Mike Guinn
Jarrod Williams
Xander Dade
Focus Stitch Photography
Samuel Adebay